The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1887-02-01
And what He Did With the Money.
An "oId Man" Who Used to Present
His Slips.
His Extradition Becoming More
Probable.
Especial to the Press, ,

WINNIPEG, Manitoba, Jan. 31.-The pre-
liminary proceedings in the extradition case
of Howard T. Blackstone took place today
before Chief Justice Walbridge, when the
prosecution produced their evidence to Sc
cure the extradition of the prisoner The
first witness was C. A. Allen, formerly col
lector but now discount clerk in the Cana
National Bank. He described fully the du
ties of discount clerk and the entries neces
sary to be made by Blackstone. He alsC
identified letter sent to Vice President
Thomas as being in Blackstone's handwrit.
ing. The letter was written by the prisoner
the 9th of December, and received by Mr.
Thomas ont the 18th. twas written in Win
nepeg and sent to friend of the prisoner
in Brooklyn, who forwarded it to Mr.
Thomas so as to give no clue to Blackstone
whereabouts. After the error had been dis
covered in Blackstones accounts, Mr.
Thomas went to Blackstone's wife to ascer-
tain if he had forged his (Thomas) name al
the Bank, and to what extent. She wrote
her husband and this letter was the reply
The letter went fully into the details of how
the money was extracted and explained the
remarkable problem" as the letter ex-
pressed it, of how "a man who never
handles money can steal it, One of his
tactics was to enter in the discount book
which he kept notes which never ex-
listed. He would then issue slips of
payment of the teller. He had an old man
to whom he gave these slips and who pro-
sented them for payment the following day.
They were usually made payable to bearer
to prevent detection. Blackstone would
place the ticket opposite the entry in the dis
count book and when the collection clerk
checked the book and saw the ticket he as
sumed that owing to some alteration required
in the check it had been returned to the
maker for correction. Thus the man who
did not have money stole plenty. Black
stone made confession in letter that he
had been stealing for period of two years,
during which time he had robbed the bank
of $76,580. He first invested large sums in
some mining stocks and lost it, Afterwards
he went into auctioneer's stocks, extracting
luck would turn in his favor and allow him
to pay everything back. The letter con-
cludes:
They say l stood high in the church.
That is a lie. / have not attended church
for two years. have had too great weight
of sin on my conscience. Let no man tell
me that the wages of sin is not death. In
stead of being a exile and a fugitive from
justice / might today, if / had not done
wrong, have been bank cashier"
A pitiful appeal for forgiveness was ap-
pended.
Allen swore the letter was in Blackstone's
handwriting, and he also identified the bogus
entries in the discount ledger and ''tickets"
as being in the prisoners hand. The pris-
oner's counsel objected to the letter being
received as evidence, but the objection was
overruled by the judge. Allen was subject
ed to very close cross-examination, but his
evidence was mistaken, and it looks as if
the prisoner would be extradited.
Vice President Thomas and Mr.. Knowlton
legal expert, brought to explain the laws of
Naina will s.s..i4.s.l- ta,saassa-sy W hen
the case proceeds.
Blackstone, who has been locked up in the
Province Jail since the arrest, has become
pale and haggard, and looks as if suffering
intense mental agony. His wife and child
went to st. Paul few days ago, where she
will remain with her brother until the case
is settled